There’s no more hiding from it. Now that I am barely leaving my room, let alone my flat, I am finding myself face to face with the dreaded pile of mending. The mountain of clutter disguised as eco-consciousness. The I’ll-do-it-when-I-have-the-time basket of clothes I haven’t worn in years but can’t bear to part with because I am sure that they won’t take much to mend. Well here goes nothing.

I was absent-mindedly staring at the behemoth whilst listening to Woman’s Hour yesterday (forgot to turn off the radio?) when Ros Studd from Repair What You Wear came on air, discussing mending during lockdown. Call it fate, call it a nuisance, I could no longer ignore the elephantine accumulation in the room. And so it is that I have set out to work my way through the pile over the next week. I will post updates below and on instagram!

Update #1 – There’s a hole in my trousers dear Liza

Today I mended a hole in the side seam of a pair of trousers where the stitches had popped. No fabric had ripped so I was able to sew along the original stitch line, securing a few stitches over the threads at either side to prevent the hole opening up again. I also darned a small hole in a pair of jeans using a light blue thread. The mend will never be completely invisible, but it is subtle enough not be noticeable.

Update #2 – Darned jumpers

In addition to also pulling out a snagged thread from a knitted dress (NEVER cut a snag or you risk unravelling the whole row!) I have darned three jumpers and sewn shut the underarms on a couple as well. Jumpers are quite satisfying to mend because in many cases the pile or fluffyness disguises small stitches and repairs. Bigger holes may yet need patches if the are too big to darn, but that in itself can be quite a creative endeavour

Update #3 – Trousers, trousers and more trousers

I feel like I have reclaimed an entire shopping spree’s worth of clothes, having now repaired ripped belt loops on not one, but THREE pairs of jeans and mended inside leg rips on two pairs of slacks (don’t you love that word? sssslacks!) I think I may need to create a separate post for the belt loops fix, which was a bit tricky, but worth it to regain my clothes!